They love these fans, have grown to understand that there is no better place to win than New York, no better team to be than New York’s team.

And no better time to be New York’s team than this heartbreaking, painful and in some cases, tragic time.

“I feel like us as athletes and being a team that this city loves and adores, I feel like just being out there and playing our hearts out, it really shows that nothing can keep us down and we’re a strong city, we’re a strong unit, and we can get through anything,” said Victor Cruz.

A tough town deserves a tough team, and the Giants’ championship mettle will be tested by Big Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers. For those three slugfest hours Sunday at MetLife Stadium, we will find out how much of a distraction Sandy has been to them and for them.

“We got a very veteran football team that understands that situation,” Justin Tuck said. “We’ve been through it with Katrina with New Orleans coming up here. . … When our owners died. … We’ve had some tragedy here and played through it and been kind of successful in it. So hopefully we’ll rise to the occasion again this week.”

The Giants want to win for themselves first and foremost, of course. But they want to win for New York too. The Saints sure wanted to win for New Orleans.

“We feel like we can spark New York, just what we do, what we’ve done,” Ahmad Bradshaw said.

The Giants, most of whom are without power, have leaned on one another this week. They ask New York to lean on them now.

“I look forward to representing New York every week,” Tuck said, “but considering the tragedy that hit with Sandy, we understand that a lot of people, a lot of families are going to be cooped into a TV where we get the opportunity to kind of take their mind off some tragedy for a little while.

“A win would go a long way to kind of lifting the spirits around here, and that’s something we definitely realize.”

If any team mirrors this city, this area, it is this team.

“New Yorkers, all of ‘em are kind of tough-minded, you know, blue-collar guys,” Tuck said. “New York City is flashy too and we got parts of that too. But I think at the core, this city, this state, surrounding area is pretty much hard-working individuals that don’t really care about fame or flash, they just want to get the job done, and I think this team is built the same way.”

Eli Manning to Cruz in the fourth quarter. Cruz doing his salsa in the end zone. Jason Pierre-Paul sacking Big Ben.

“This is a resilient football team,” Chris Canty said. “It doesn’t matter how it looks or whether the chips are down, this team always finds a way to scratch and fight and have an opportunity to come out on top and so in that fashion, that’s representative of all New Yorkers.”

Mike Piazza lifted the city on his shoulders 10 days after 9-11 with one healing swing of the bat. The Giants would love nothing better than to give New York a Piazza moment.

“When we go out there we play hard, we play down to the wire, we play aggressive football, and I think that’s what represents the city of New York,” Cruz said.

Tom Coughlin, asked if his team felt a special responsibility now, said: “Well I think there’s no question about that. I mean, we haven’t talked much about that. But there’ll be a time and a place to talk about that.

“The devastation in this part of our world — and our players have gone through a little of it — I don’t know the extent of the damage in their homes, etcetera, but I know a majority of them are without power and have been without power. And so that’s just a small sample of what’s gone on in this part of the world. And hopefully we can relieve some of that, give a reason for people to have a smile on their face for a few hours on Sunday afternoon.”